More DC Vegan
dcvegan drinks
follow us on twitter
dc vegan flickr group
join us on facebook
dc vegan via email
dc vegan via rssRecently Written
Recent Forum Posts
Categories
Archives
dishing out the details: DC’s vegan thanksgiving scene
Whether this will be your first all-vegan Thanksgiving feast or your tenth, DCVegan has all your animal-friendly Thanksgiving needs right here!
BEFORE & AFTER THANKSGIVING DAY
Groceries: You can’t go wrong shopping at MOM’s—this 5-store grocery chain was named “Best Place to Shop for Vegan Food” of 2008 by voters on VegDC.com. At MOM’s, you’ll find a variety of animal-friendly options, including Tofurky and Field Roast’s Celebration Roast (hurry—quantities are often limited). Need some recipe ideas? Check out the Compassion Over Killing Thanksgiving kitchen.
Dining: Great Sage in Clarksville, Md. is offering amazing Vegan Thanksgiving specials on Nov 26 & 28 (closed on Thanksgiving Day) including Whipped Maple Sweet Potatoes with toasted coconut, Caramelized Leek Mashed Potatoes with Onion Sage Gravy, and Roasted Root Vegetables with fresh herbs.
ON THANKSGIVING DAY
Dining: The Vegetarian Society of DC is hosting its annual Life-Affirming Thanksgiving Celebration in Bethesda, MD. Tickets required in advance (no walk in registrations accepted).
Dining: Sunflower Vegetarian Restaurant in Falls Church, Va. is not only open on Thanksgiving day, but they are featuring a mouth-watering menu: Tofu turkey with a walnut, pecan, cranberry and seasoned whole wheat bread stuffing, accompanied by mashed Okinawa purple yams, steamed brown rice and a choice of gravy — creamy mushroom or spicy black pepper. The complete meal is $12.95. (Please note that the Sunflower’s Vienna restaurant is closed on Thanksgiving day)
Desserts: Sticky Fingers Bakery will be open from 7 to 1 to satisfy all your last-minute needs for holiday sweets. Specials include Pumpkin cheesecake, pecan pie, apple pie, cranberry orange bread, and more.
Other: Serenity Studio in Adams Morgan is offering an “Adopt A Turkey Special Thanksgiving Class” starting at 10am. It’s an open level yoga class with donations being collected for Farm Sanctuary in lieu of fees.
OTHER NOTES:
· Here are some great vegan holiday dining tips from the Washington Post Express
· The following restaurants are closed on Thanksgiving Day: Vegetate, Java Green, and Great Sage
wash post express talks tofurky!
Today’s Washington Post Express features an interview with Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero all about vegan Thanksgiving feasts! Read the full interview here & check out the excerpt below:
Tofurkey: A Vegan’s Guide to Thanksgiving
A NICELY BROWNED Butterball may spell Turkey Day bliss for many Americans. But for vegetarians and vegans, a long-cooked gobbler isn’t an option. So, how do you whip up a feast (or a dish or two, at least) that’ll please pals who shun giblets et al? We got tips from give-up-the-flesh crusaders Isa Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero, whose public-access TV show “The Post Punk Kitchen” and cookbook (”Veganomicon”) — demonstrate that creamy cupcakes, decadent Italian food and hearty casseroles can kick butt even sans butter.
» EXPRESS:Is there a quintessential holiday dish for those who don’t eat meat?
» ROMERO:A beautiful, savory pot pie decorated with pastry leaves will knock your socks off and be a beautiful centerpiece.
» MOSKOWITZ:The stuffing. I start with my own corn bread and make my own vegan sausages. You could do apples, pears, toasted pecans or walnuts and fresh herbs.
» EXPRESS:Any dish you miss at the holidays?
» MOSCOWITZ: I never miss meat. It’s funny when people think that vegans are deprived. I don’t like the look of a big bird on a table, and I wouldn’t think of adding cream to my potatoes. I make mashed potatoes with olive oil and roasted garlic.
» EXPRESS:How do you avoid disasters at the omnivore’s table?
» ROMERO: Talk to your hosts and explain what you do and don’t eat. Set aside mashed potatoes before butter is added, and dress green beans with olive oil rather than bacon grease. If all else fails, eat a big breakfast.
Green Bean Casserole
I took this recipe but changed up a few things. Like instead of using soy creamer, I used the Tofurky Mushroom & “Giblet” Gravy, I didn’t use sherry and I didn’t make the topping, I just put on some Crispy Onions from Whole Foods. Still…delish.
I got this from, http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2006/11/best-vegan-green-bean-casserole.html
Vegan Green Bean Casserole
Beans
2 quarts water
1 tablespoon table salt (Alanna says it’s essential)
1 1/2 pounds fresh green beans, trimmed and cut into bite-size pieces
Bring the water to boil in a large pot. While it’s heating, cut up the beans. Add the salt and beans to the boiling water. Cover and cook for 6 minutes. Drain beans in a colander, and then spray for a minute with cold water to stop the cooking. Let them drain in the colander, shaking every now and then to get off all the water.
Sauce
10 ounces mushrooms (I used a combination of regular button mushrooms and shiitake)
3 cloves garlic, minced
generous pinch cayenne pepper (had to add it for the New Orleanians)
Salt to taste
Fresh pepper to taste
2 tablespoons flour
3/4 cup vegetable broth (I used Imagine’s No-Chicken)
1 tablespoon dry sherry (Alanna’s brilliant addition)
3/4 cup soy creamer (or try full-fat unsweetened soymilk)
Trim and discard the mushroom stems and chop the mushrooms into pieces. Spray a non-stick pan with canola oil and heat it. Add the mushrooms, garlic, cayenne, salt, and pepper. Cook until mushrooms are very soft and exude their juices. Whisk the flour into the vegetable broth and add to the mushrooms along with the sherry. Simmer, stirring, until mixture thickens. Add the soy creamer and simmer until thick, about 5 to 10 minutes. Adjust the seasonings and stir in the beans.
Topping
1 1/2 slices whole grain bread
1 tablespoon Earth Balance margarine (the best tasting margarine in the world and no trans-fat)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/16 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 3-ounce can of French fried onions
Put the bread, margarine, salt, and pepper into a food processor and pulse until crumbly. Pour into a bowl and add the onions. Stir to combine.
To assemble:
Put the green beans into an oiled casserole dish and top with the onion mixture. Bake at 425 F for about 15 minutes. If you are not serving this right away, refrigerate the topping separately; bring to room temperature before sprinkling the topping on the casserole and baking for about 20 minutes or until hot throughout.
This Weekend: Poplar Springs, Thanksgiving with the Turkeys
This coming weeked is Poplar Spring’s Annual Thanksgiving with the Turkeys. Join their eight friendly turkeys and all their friends in celebrating a cruelty-free Thanksgiving potluck. Please bring a vegan (no meat, dairy, or eggs) dinner or dessert item to serve 8. $10.00 suggested donation to benefit the animals. No charge for children under 16. The event is from 12pm-4pm on Saturday November 22nd.
Click here for directions to Poplar Spring’s
See you there!!!
DC Vegan Drinks
DC Vegan along with COK and The Science Club are staring a monthly event call DC Vegan Drinks. Its basicly a social networking event for people who are interested in veganism and animal rights. It will be held once a month (we are still working out a date for our first event). For more info and to join our mailing list visit the website, http://dcvegandrinks.org
black bean soup i could open a diner with……
tim asked me to post the recipe…basically, though, it’s all “to taste”. but here’s what i put in it:
1 large can of black beans, 1/2 can of water, warmed in a saucepan, add one avocado to the black beans towards the end of cooking…(i probably cook the beans for 10-15 minutes or so).
in a skillet, heat some avocado or canola oil (or other high heat oil) with onion powder (to taste), garlic powder (to taste) and salt. i use quite a bit of the onion powder. i like the taste of onions but i don’t like the texture so i don’t use them–but if you want to use real onions, use less powder.
add frozen corn, green beans, and quartered baby carrots (i’d say about a handful of each) to the oil. if you want to impress some of your meat eating friends (or if you’re hankerin’ for some tasty vegan meat)–add a box of the smart strips chick’n style strips to the mix. i usually add a bit more onion powder and garlic powder while it’s cooking–again, to taste. i love rich, garlicy food so i’m all about a few extra “pinches”.
i will saute the veggies for a good 10-15 minutes or so, stirring quite a bit. sometimes i add another half can or so of water depending on how soupy i want it to be. honestly, though, it’s more of a stew.
pour the beans and avocado into the veggie mix and mix it all together, let it sit for another few minutes…
this makes two somewhat large helpings (the more the merrier’s what i say). :o)
serve, and enjoy!
OMG! That was so good!
I just had the most awesomest dinner. I had to write about it. I made a “meatball” sandwich. I got vegan meatballs from Whole Foods, baked it in the oven for 8 mins., they were nice and crispy, nuked some Trader Joe’s organic marinara sauce (low sodium), take out the meatballs, pop them in the sauce while it’s still sizzling, wait a few mins to cool and either put it on a sub type bread or just regular bread. I used whole grain bread. Two slices. I put the sauce and meatballs on one slice, sprinkle on some garlic powder and put on the other slice and eat away. Trust! Delish!
Things that make me go…arrrrggghh!
So I don’t mind it if I don’t get invited to a dinner at a friends house where everyone is there BUT me because I am vegan. Their excuse was, “There wasn’t anything for you to eat.” Far be it from me to offer to bring a dish for not only me to eat but others to try. See, no, no, this situation isn’t what burns my buns, what burns my buns is when someone DOES invited me and KNOWS I am vegan and has nothing for me to eat and turned down the offer of me bringing a dish or two for not only me but for others to try. Their reasoning for why I shouldn’t bring a dish, “There will be plenty of food. I’m sure there will be something here you can eat.” Well, in this season of turkey, ham, chicken stuffing, meat, meat and more meat and buttery rolls, whip cream, dairy, dairy and more dairy, I am very upfront on offering to bring food. It not only makes me look gracious, but it prevents me from starving. So color me surprised when I arrived at this dinner party and come to find out there was nothing, literally nothing I could eat. It drives me banana sandwich when the host first apologizes then gets huffy and tries to find something for me to eat. Grrrrarrrgh.
So now that is off my chest, I’d like to present some ideas and recipes to the vegans out there for this Thanksgiving season. First of all, the Tofurkey Thanksgiving dinner box. PERfect! I tried it last year. Totally AWesome. This year I am going to change it up though. Last year, I just followed the directions on the box and let the “turkey” cook. This year I am going to let it slow roast and perhaps put a light coat of honey (yes, I do honey) or agave sweetener, you know to give it a little crunch and let the mushroom gravy soak in. I got you drooling now having I? Plus I plan to Google for many other Thanksgiving favorites, veganized. Check out this recipe for vegan pumpkin pie, http://www.simple-vegetarian-recipes.com/desserts-vegan-pumpkin-pie.html
I personally am planning on bringing the Tofurkey dinner along with the pie and some other goodies to my uncle’s house where I am having my Thanksgiving dinner. Yes, he will have plenty of food but I am still bringing it!
Call for Vegan Entrepreneur’s
Are you vegan, are a small business owner, and live in the DC area? If so send us some info about you and your business, and you may be featured on DCVegan. View other Vegan Entrepreneur’s in DC.
mailing list
you will see that we have a new mailing list signup form on the left. enter your info and stay informed on what’s happening at DC*Vegan! (we have some exciting stuff planned for the new year). and don’t worry, your info is safe with us.
